For the first time since the Viking missions 30 years ago, NASA is sending a probe to scratch the surface of Mars. The new spacecraft, called Phoenix, is scheduled to launch in August of this year, and will dig up soil samples in the planet’s polar region. Scientists hope that on-board analysis of the ice-packed dirt will reveal chemicals that could have made life possible, though they have few expectations of finding actual life.
Peter Smith, chief scientist for the mission, told reporters, “There’s always some remote possibility of life existing there even now, but Phoenix might be landing 10 feet away from it, and we’d never know it.”
Source: David Perlman, Next Mars lander, Phoenix, will dig into icy surface. San Francisco Chronicle, February 2. Photo by NASA.
